


Okami Otaku

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Category: Great-Uncle Dracula Series - Jayne Harvey, Japanese Mythology
Genre: F/M, Fangirls, Gen, High School, Magic, One-Sided Emily Normal/Wolfie Johnson, Slow Burn, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, Youkai, otaku
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25234444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: The only thing Hillary is happy about when moving to Transylvania, Pennsylvania is she gets to see her old friend Emily again. The town at first glimpse leave a rather dull impression, and nothing exciting seems to go on. Hillary's not even happy to find out her old friend is a quarter vampire, and there are other monsters in the town.
Relationships: Wanda McWitch/Wolfie Johnson
Collections: Focus on Female Characters, MinorFandomFest, Monster Works





	1. Welcome to Transylvania, Pennsylvania

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer – I don't own Great Uncle Dracula. The canon characters for this series are Emily Normal, her brother Elliot, her mother and father, her Uncle Dracula, Winnie Witcherson, Wolfie Johnson, Hector Spector, Wanda McWitch, Ms. Vampira and Gregory Ghostmeister. The series is a book series written for younger readers (early elementary school) back in the early 1990's, but the content is meant for an older audience (preteens, teens and adults). For this story Wolfie is also Eurasian. Since I'm bringing in elements of Japanese mythology and may eventually bring in some elements from Lord of the Rings, I'll eventually add in the tag for that.

_Emily_

_Long time no see._

_I've not seen you since you moved in second grade._

_We kind of lost in touch with each other._

_Mom says I need to write to you to let you know I'm going to be going to the same high school as you._

_I'm really excited._

_I'm leaving some of our old friends behind but getting to see you again makes up for it._

_The fact we're moving._

_I'm looking forward to seeing you._

_Best FRIENDS Forever_ _  
_ _Hillary_

…

The sound of pen against paper stopped finally. The letter sat on the table in front of Hillary next to crumpled balls of paper. One of her hands decorated with flamboyant nail polish set the pen down as the fourteen-year-old looked up at her mother. "Am I done now?" Her mother stood at the end of the table with her arms crossed as Hillary pushed the paper towards her. The fourteen-year-old leaned forward on her elbows taking in her mother's facial features. " _How come she looks so exotic? I wish I looked more Japanese._ "

The woman's brown eyes darted back and forth across the paper before letting out a sigh. "It's still not good."

Hillary flinched as she imagined her mother crumpling the paper again. "You're not making William or Tanya write a letter to Elliot."

"William and Tanya weren't friends with Elliot. Tanya may be in the same grade, but she never hung out with Elliot. William on the other hand is two grades lower. Plus..." The woman folded her arms across her chest. "Aren't you excited about seeing Emily again?"

"No. I mean yes. Just not all of this writing stuff. I don't like writing. Not unless it's..."

"Don't." Her mother's lips pushed together. "I don't like the stories you write."

"That's because you don't think fanfiction is a legitimate form of writing." Hillary leaned back while her mother continued to look at her. The fourteen-year-old shrunk back while her shoulders tensed up.

"Address the envelope."

A hand reached up to twist her brown locks around a finger as Hillary smiled at her mother. The smile left her face as she looked at her mother. "You're still not happy with what I wrote."

"Your English needs work."

Hillary's mouth formed into a pout. "I don't know why you make a big deal out of it. My grades that is. I don't get why we need all of those rules anyway, or why we need to study that stuff."

"Tanya and William don't give me these problems."

"Well Tanya and William don't have you nagging at them constantly."

"I don't nag at them because they don't give me reason to."

"You just hate the fact I'm into fanfiction and Anime. You hate your own culture."

"Just address the letter and put a stamp on it."

Hillary let out a sigh and complied. She tossed the letter onto the table before heading up to the room she shared with Tanya. Her younger sister lay on the second bed in reading a book. Hillary plopped onto her own bed. "I can't wait until I get my own room. William's so lucky to have his own room."

"William still sleeps with mom and dad."

"Which is why I don't understand why they just didn't give me his room." Hillary turned her head and squinted at the book title. "What are you reading?"

"Dracula."

"Boring. Twilight's better." Hillary reached her hands up to the ceiling and didn't see Tanya turn her head to look at her.

"Twilight better than Dracula?"

"Don't give me the whole 'the vampires are more realistic in Dracula' speech. If vampires and werewolves exist then why would they be nasty like that Dracula dude?" Hillary felt her body relax when her sister didn't respond right away. " _See. She doesn't have an answer."_

"Because they're psychopaths?"

Hillary's mouth twisted down. "Because, what's to say they are psychopaths? Wouldn't they interact with us?"

"Why would they want to interact with us when those of us who aren't vampires discriminated against them?"

"Why would anyone discriminate against monsters? They're cool. Like youkai are." Hillary reached out to grab her Mokona doll.

"You really don't get it sis."

"You're the one who doesn't get it." Hillary held the Mikona doll into the air. "I still don't think it's fair that mom didn't make you write a letter to Elliot."

"Elliot's gross. The one good thing about him is he's always been nicer than you and Emily though."

"No. Elliot's always been an obnoxious brat."

"If you think that then why are you so insistent that I write a letter to him."

"'cause you're an obnoxious brat too. That's why you two are friends."

"We're not. Have you decided what you're going to pack yet?"

"Pack? We've got to pack everything into boxes. You know that."

"I mean what are you going to pack into your traveling bag."

"My Twilight books." Hillary heard a sound of annoyance come from her sister, and she turned her head to look at the younger girl. "What?"

"Why?"

"I'm sure Emily is into Twilight too."

"You don't know that. You've not talked to her since the second grade. You've not even written to her. You're both now going into the ninth grade. That's seven years. She may be all geeky for all you know."

"Of course she'll be geeky. She's always been into grades and such, and all that. And not a wannabe like yourself either."

"You really don't have any clue." Tanya put a bookmark into her book before leaving the room.

Hillary turned back to talking to her Mokona doll. "No clue chu? She's the one with no clue chu. Give me a break chu. She's got mom's exoticness, and is prettier chu. So she thinks she's all that chu." She then pulled the doll to her chest and let out a sigh. " _Us being otaku together is going to be great. Doesn't matter how nerdy Emily is. She's going to like it to._ "

…

Hillary glared at the inside of the car and the amount of space she had for her things. "Why do I need to sit up front?"

Her mother's head darted up. "You're the oldest so you get the privilege of sitting up front."

"There isn't enough room. William and Tanya get the middle seat between them."

"I told you already that Transylvania is only a couple of hours outside of the closed major city in Pennsylvania and Plains is only an hour away. That means we're only going to be driving for an hour. You could easily have packed that stuffed toy of yours back into the suitcases and had more room for yourself."

"Mokona isn't a stuffed animal and even if she was, what about William? You're letting him take a stuffed animal?"

"William is also younger then you are."

"He's going into middle school. Having a stuffed animal is childish." Hillary continued to hold onto Mokana and not get into the car.

"Come on Hillary. We need to get going. Emily's family is actually expecting us for dinner at their place, and we don't want to be late. You do want to see Emily again?"

A pout formed on Hillary's face and she finally plopped into the seat only to receive a lecture about closing the door and putting on her seat belt. Her mother started on her way and turned the music to the station Tanya and William liked to listen to. " _I can't believe they still listen to this childish pop music. Anime music is so much better._ "

Green trees rushed past them, and sun shown down from a sky without a cloud in sight. Eventually they crossed a river and their mother told them to look out the window, but Hillary simply stared up at the ceiling with a rather unamused look on her face. Sometimes they drove past the suburban places Hillary and her friends normally talked about living, but mostly they drove through countryside until they got into Philadelphia and Hillary finally looked out the windows to see the tall skyscrapers.

Soon though the car turned in a different direction and she found herself being driven out of the city. Clouds began to appear in the sky and eventually their mother said they were driving into Transylvania. Hillary looked around the place and grimaced. " _This place is plainer then Plainsville, and is like that stupid Quakertown mom took me to. I'd rather we moved to Forks as it's far more pleasant than either place. I hate this place already, but at least Emily lives here._


	2. Different Sides of a Coin

Emily's untied shoelaces flapped around her ankles as she walked home from her last day of middle school. Her school bag felt heavy and she couldn't wait to drop the bag to the floor. Arriving back at the crowded house her great-uncle owned she stopped by the mailbox to get the mail. Her hands flipped through the letters looking for a letter from her mother.

Most of the letters were bills for her great-uncle or rejections from various publishing companies for works her father submitted. A letter addressed to her from Plainsville caught her eye and she found herself hurrying towards the house. The door slammed shut behind her earning her a lecture from her great-uncle. A few minutes later he brother came in rubbing his face where the door slammed into his face. "Not cool Emily."

"I got a letter from Hillary." Emily dropped her bag to the floor and ignored the look her uncle gave her. The fourteen-year-old plopped down into a chair at the kitchen table and proceeded to rip open the letter.

"Hillary? Isn't she that friend of yours with the two younger siblings?"

"Yeah. Weren't you friends with her sister Tanya."

"Hell no. Tanya hated my guts."

"Kind of like me and Wanda don't like each other?" Emily looked up at her brother.

"No." Elliot pulled out a loaf of bread, some butter and jelly.

"So Tanya's not a bully?"

"That's not what I said, though she's not a bully either. I'm talking about the fact you wand Wanda McWitch always seem to be competing with each other." Her younger brother began to make himself toast.

"Well she's always so smug getting the highest grades in our class."

"She's not actually the top student Emily."

"Yes she is. That's why she's always so smug when I mess up."

"She wouldn't be smug because you're always making a fool of yourself?"

"I am..." Emily's conversation with her brother stopped short as she took in the letter. She could feel the color leave her face as she read the letter over, and she shook her head putting it down.

Emily grimaced as Eliot stuffed his mouth full of toast and jelly. The way the jelly splattered across his face made her feel nauseated. Her younger brother used his sleeve to wipe away the jelly from his face and he spoke with his mouth full. "What's the matter?"

"Hillary says her family is moving here. She's going to be going to high school with me." The eldest of the Normal siblings felt her throat tighten.

Her great-uncle looked up from cooking the dinner meal. "Isn't that a good thing? It means you get to see your friend again. You've not brought Winnie over as often."

"That's because Winnie's busy with cheerleading." Elliot continued to speak with his mouth full. "I agree with Uncle Drac. How is that a bad thing?"

"She doesn't know about monsters does she." Emily set the letter down onto the table as the corners of her mouth twisted down into a frown.

"You never told any of your friends about the fact we're a quarter vampire?"

The eldest Normal sibling felt her eyes widened as she looked at her younger brother. "Don't tell me you mentioned something to your friends back in Plainsville!"

"I did. Haven't really heard much from them though. Those that I did thought it was cool."

"The ones who didn't reply probably didn't believe you, and those that did likely did."

"Fair enough. I'd rather have the friends who believed me anyway."

"Elliot, you do understand that the others stopped replying when the grew up right? There is a point people stop believing in this kind of thing unless they see it for themselves. I know I wouldn't believe in vampires and such had we not moved here."

"It is real though Emily."

"You're missing the point! Hillary's family doesn't know anything about vampires and werewolves and witches and ghosts."

"Everybody knows something."

"I mean they don't know anything about them being real."

A clicking sound came from the kitchen as their uncle set down the spoon he was stirring the dinner with. "You can't stop her family moving here Emily, so even if they don't know anything about our kind they are eventually going to find out. I think we should invite them over for dinner to make them welcome."

Emily looked down at the letter before standing up. The chair legs scratched against the wooden floor. "I'm going to go to my room. I'm not hungry."

The fourteen-year-old female walked up the stairs listening to the stairs creak as she went up the stairs. Arriving in the crowded space she flopped onto her small bed and groaned into her pillow. "My life is over!"

The teen female flipped over onto her back and placed her hands on her chest. " _It's bad enough I don't fit in here, but I don't really fit in there either. At least I could pretend I fit in there while none of them knew I was part vampire. Not that I ever visited that place._ "

Emily sat up and moved a short distance to her desk and pulled out her journal.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today's the last day of middle school. When I told one of the other members of the chess club this means we're grown up now Wanda told me I'm still childish in the way I act. She's one to talk with how mean she is to people, and she had no business listening in on my conversation. I really don't like her. She never has anything nice to say to me, so I've no reason to listen to a word she says. What she says still hurts though._

_I found out today that Hillary is going to be coming to Transylvania and will be going to High School with me and Winnie. It's funny. I kind of expected Hillary to end up being a cheerleader and not Winnie. I'm not sure how to feel about Hillary coming here. On one side I am excited about seeing her again, but on the other side she doesn't know anything about monsters. I'm worried she's going to misunderstand a lot of things, and she may even hate me._

_All I've got now is Winnie when I used to have quite a few friends back in Plainsville. It used to also be Wolfie and Hector too, but they like doing guy things. At least I think that because I see Hector hanging out with the guys. I've no clue what Wolfie ever gets up to, and he's not on the football team like Hector is. Sometimes Wolfie also makes me mad. I say something and he gives me this dirty look as if he thinks I'm below him. I didn't see him today though. I've not seen him for a few weeks now._

_If he's not part of my geek group and not a part of Hector's jock group den does that make him a jock type? What other type is there? I guess the other type is loner, or stoner. It be really bad if Wolfie's gotten himself into drugs. I think I've noted that before in my journal. I wonder if I should say something to mama or Uncle Dracula. Not dad. Dad's such a loser delving into his writing like he does. I'm embarrassed really to be his daughter._

_Emily_

…

Hillary got out of the car in the driveway of the place the Normal family lived and clutched her Mokona doll to her chest. The mouth of the fourteen-year-old twisted down as she looked at the place. "Emily did get my letter, right?"

"Her great-uncle wouldn't have called over a week ago inviting us to dinner if she hadn't."

Hillary stared at her Japanese mother wondering why the woman could be so candid about the entire thing. Tanya and William both got out of the car with smiles on their faces meaning they weren't bothered by the place either. Hillary's hazel brown eyes blinked a couple of times as she took in the place Emily lived, and she found herself honestly not liking the place.

The colors of the house were dull; the white paint on the house peeled away in a few places revealing the place needed a fresh coat of paint, and someone painted the trim a dull gray color which reminded her of clouds ready to burst with clouds. Up above her eyes took in the clouds which looked apt to spill with rain, and no flowers grew in the flower bed. Hillary saw the neighbors houses shared the same motif. " _How could Emily like this place? She's got to be absolutely bored. Do they even have the net or cable TV here?_ "

Her two younger siblings hurried up to the front door and Hillary cringed at the happy sounds they made. " _Absolutely embarrassing._ "

William reached up for the doorbell just as Hillary grabbed her bag holding her favorite books, Manga and CDs. She swung the bag over one shoulder and let the other strap hang loose. The door opened and her hazel eyes caught a glance of Elliot as he opened the door. "Hi Mrs. Coulthard."

"I see you're as polite as ever Elliot."

Hillary rolled her eyes at the idea of Elliot being polite. " _Yeah right. Elliot's only polite when he wants to make the adults think he's a good little boy, but the minute their backs are turned things are changed._ "

Stepping through the doorway allowed Hillary to see how small the place actually was. The living area ended up butted up right against the eating area of the kitchen, and the kitchen's open design didn't help much to elevate the small size of the front area. Only a couple of feet existed between the couch and the kitchen table and only one chair was packed into the room. The television took up little room due to size, but could take up even less if they replaced the electronic device with the newer flat screen model.

The place smelled dusty and she couldn't see into the other rooms attached to the small hallway leading away from the main living space beside three doors, but she could see a staircase leading upstairs. Thankfully the smell of cooking food covered up the smell of dust. Hillary glanced over to the kitchen to see an unfamiliar man with pale skin cooking. He turned to her with his dark hair and dark eyes. "Dinner should be ready soon. Elliot, will you let your sister and father know our guests have arrived. They can take a seat in the living room."

Hillary sat down in the big chair clutching her Mokono doll tightly and buried her chin in the top of his head. Elliot glanced back at her and looked right at the doll before shaking his head to go back and get his father and his sister. He came back and plopped down onto the couch. "I let them know. I don't know if dad heard me."

"Your father always got buried into his work and forgot about everything around him."

Hillary glared at her mother as she held Mokono tighter. Elliot on the other hand shrugged his shoulders as Tanya took a seat on the couch and pulled William down onto the couch so he was between her and Elliot. "Isn't that why mom and dad got divorced?"

"I guess. Your mother can also get buried into her work as well."

Hillary bit down onto the top of Mokono's head before letting out a sigh. Elliot of course asked a question she didn't like. "Where's your guys dad?"

"He's coming at a later time. He wants us to get settled in and has some things to finish up at the home office. Plus he's always traveling with his job."

The fourteen-year-old female released Mokono with one hand and reached up to twist one of her locks of hair around one of her fingers out of boredom. Her eyes brightened up upon seeing Emily, and she noted the other fourteen-year-old still wore rather geeky glasses and wore her short hair in two pigtails. She raised a hand and waved. "Emily!"

The other girl smiled and headed over to lean against the big chair. "Nice to see you Hillary? What is that?"

Emily pointed at the Mokono doll. Hillary looked down. "She's Mokono of course. She's a character from an Anime."

"What's an Anime?"

Hillary's face fell. "You don't know about Anime and Manga?"

Emily shook her head. "Not really."

"What about Twilight?"

"Not really."

"Dinner's ready."

Hillary didn't pursue the conversation much farther and instead headed to sit around the kitchen table. Somehow extra chairs appeared from nowhere, but Hillary brushed off the appearance of the extra chairs. Instead she took in how Emily's great-uncle for some reason looked like he could be a vampire, but Hillary brushed the thought away.


	3. Staying the Night

" _What's Anime? And this Manga and Twilight stuff?_ " Emily meant to ask more about the subjects, but instead she found herself heading to the dinner table to eat the lasagna her great-uncle made minus the garlic. Hillary left the thing she called Monoko on the big chair along with her bag to come over to eat.

Mrs. Coulthard prevented any conversation regarding what Hillary brought up by asking how Emily and her brother were doing in school. The fourteen-year-old Normal poked her food with her fork. "All right I guess. I'm not the best student. That would be Wanda McWitch. She's not very nice."

"I told you Wanda's not the person who gets the best grades at your grade level." Elliot shoved food into his mouth causing Tanya to grimace along with Emily. "Schools all right. Different from where we used to live."

Emily hoped none of the Coulthard family noticed a change in her facial expressions when Elliot said school was different from where they used to live.

"What's your favorite subject?" Hillary's mother continued on as if nothing seemed out of the norm.

"I like writing essays." Emily watched Hillary's eyes widen in horror.

"I like art class." Hillary blurted out her own favorite class.

Elliot spoke up through a mouthful of food. "I like doing spells and stuff."

"Don't you mean spelling?" Tanya turned to look at Emily's younger brother with a rather unamused look and Emily kicked him under the table. Eventually Mr. Normal came out of his study on the first floor and joined them to eat. The conversation quickly shifted to things the adults were interested in and finally Emily and the others finished so the girls could go to Emily's room and William could go with Emily's brother to Elliot's room.

Emily flopped onto her bed in a sitting position while Hillary clutched her stuffed toy in her arms as she sat down. Tanya leaned up against the closed doors. "What is all this Anime, Manga and Twilight stuff?"

Hillary opened her mouth to say something but Tanya opened her mouth. "Japanese cartoons, Japanese comics, not that sis can actually read any of them in their original language and has to read translated stuff."

"Tanya! Not all _otaku_ read Manga in the original language."

"You don't even know what _otaku_ means."

"It means a fan of Anime and Manga."

"No it doesn't."

"I know more about this subject then you do."

"I actually know Japanese."

Emily stared at her childhood friend and decided it was best to change the subject. "What about this Twilight?"

"Fake vampire crap that puts Dracula to shame."

"Dracula's boring."

A sigh escaped Emily's lips. " _I guess both of them are interested in vampires. Isn't the book Dracula like something that gave us a bad name and made Uncle Dracula have to leave his home country. Not that I really know. That's not something I really wanted to dive into._ "

"I brought my Twilight books, and some of the volumes of my favorite Manga. My mom made me back up most of my collection though." Hillary pulled out a bunch of books from her bag and Emily tried not grimacing at the sight of comic books.

" _I do things like chess club, but comic books are for the male geeks._ "

Hillary held up one of the comics. "This one is _Fruit Basket_. It's about the Japanese zodiac. And this one is _Vampire Knight_. It's also about vampires. I think I prefer werewolves though."

Emily felt her teeth run across her bottom lip. " _That would be Wolfie. I'm not sure I should introduce them considering the fact I don't know if Wolfie's been getting into any kind of trouble like drugs. There's also the fact Wolfie gives me those dirty looks. At least unlike Wanda he's otherwise nice to everybody._ "

"This one is _100% Perfect Girl_. This Manga..."

"Manhwa..." Tanya interrupted the conversation. "It's from Korea and not Japan."

"Whatever. This girl is really good at art and meets a prince. It's absolutely romantic."

" _Fruits Basket_ and _Vampire Knight_ are pretty good, but _100% Perfect Girl_ is pretty much the _Twilight_ of Korea." The younger of the two sisters blinked a couple of times as Hillary hit her on top of the head with one of the Manga.

"That's quite a bit to read." Emily looked at the Manga warily. " _If I had a choice I'd take the books._ "

"Maybe I can stay the night."

Emily took a deep breath. " _If she stays the night she's more likely to find out stuff, but she also may suspect something if I try and make an excuse._ "

Her mouth opened up to say something when William opened the door. "Come see! Elliot's got some really cool monster stuff. You like monsters like vampires and werewolves don't you Hillary?"

A slightly gargled sound escaped Emily's mouth as Hillary stood up and headed out of the door. She noticed Tanya giving her an odd look as Emily stood up to follow her friend. "Elliot's room's a mess. It's always a mess. It also smells like rat. He's got a pet rat."

Hillary of course ignored her and headed to the room. All three girls held their noses at the stink of rat, and the oldest of the Coulthard siblings swallowed as she looks at the room filled with monster paraphernalia. "The stuff is pretty cool Elliot, but your room really does stink." The girl turned to look at Emily. "Are you going to ask?"

"Uh, sure." The female part vampire headed back down the stairs. Emily opened her mouth to ask her uncle if Hillary could say, but stopped short upon remembering his name. She stopped short and opened her mouth. "Could Hillary stay the night?"

Her uncle looked up. "Their place isn't set up yet from what Mrs. Coulthard is saying, so I don't see it as a problem."

Elliot's voice came from the stairway. "Does this mean William's staying in my room Uncle Drac?"

" _Stupid Elliot! I don't want any of them to find out yet._ "

"If it is fine with Mrs. Coulthard then yes."

"Go get your overnight bags from the car."

William and Hillary both hurried out of the room while Tanya lagged behind. Emily leaned over to whisper into her brother's ear. "Thanks a lot you little twerp."

"You think I want William staying the night in my room Emily? He's a little kid. You seriously need to grow up." The door clicked open as Hillary came in with her overnight bag. William followed with both his and Tanya's bag causing the middle child to let out a sigh and roll her eyes. "Of course then again look at who you have for friends."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Mean? The friend you've had who doesn't act in a childish manner is Wolfie, but then again none of you guys are friends with him anymore are you?"

Emily took a deep breath. "I know Winnie's clumsy and naïve, but Hector's rather mature."

"No, he isn't. If you and Winnie actually hung out with him then you'd know that."

" _Wolfie's not mature. He's aggravating!_ " Emily wanted to say, but Hillary grabbed her arm and dragged her up the stairs to her room. Tanya followed close behind and dropped her bag onto the floor before sitting down with her arms and knees folded up to her chest. Emily headed to the closet. "I'll get the sleeping bags from the closet. I've got a couple. Who wants the bed?"

"I'll take it." Tanya piped up.

"What lets you get the bed twerp." Hillary snapped.

"The fact you two are friends and it will let you talk some more while I go ahead and go to bed. That is of course if I can avoid your conversation. That, or Emily gets the bed as it is hers."

"I... Emily gets her bed. I'm going to go and change in the bathroom. In the meantime you read something Emily." Hillary took off.

"I'd better go change as well and make sure she can find the bathroom."

Emily shook her head and grabbed her own clothes to change into before the other two got back. She then sat down on her bed with Hillary's _Twilight_ book and crossed her legs. She read through the chapters quickly and at first liked the prose, but when it got to the vampire part she found her stomach flinching. " _This is what Hillary thinks vampires are?_ "

Elliot came into the room. "What are you reading?"

"Some vampire book series Hillary brought."

"Vampire series?" Her younger brother picked up one of the other books in the series and cracked it open to read a small bit only to slam the book shut. "What the... that's not vampires!"

"I know."

"Then why are you reading it?"

"Hillary wants me to. I..." Emily let out a sigh. "This is what she thinks vampires are." She looked her brother in the face and saw the usual color was gone. "What?"

"I thought you were just being paranoid about them finding out we're part vampire."

"Do you still think so?"

"About them finding out? I still think you're paranoid. I'm more worried about Hillary thinking these weird vampire stuff's what they're really like."

"What's taking so long?"

"They've got to say goodbye to their mom. Uncle Drac wouldn't let them get away with not saying good-bye. William also got to the bathroom first and took a bath. Hillary's pissed."

"You can't blame Tanya and Hillary for being pissed. Girls take time to get ready."

"Tanya's not pissed. She's amused. She's creepy."

"And you said she's not a bully?"

"It's not the same Emily." Elliot turned to leave the room while Emily tried finishing the book.

Tanya came into the room first. Emily blinked a couple of times. "You came back first?"

"Mom told Hillary to let me use the bathroom first." Tanya sat down on the bed. "You don't look like you're enjoying the book. You've gotten quite far though."

"This isn't vampires."

"I know that. You'll prefer _Vampire Knights_. It does vampires far more justice."

"It's a comic. Comics are for guys."

"The Manga that Hillary packed are aimed for girls. The only Manga she has for guys is _Naruto_. Well, there is also _Inuyasha_ , but she thinks that is _shoujo_ and not _shounen_."

"I really don't know any of those terms." Emily shook her head and instead continued reading the book. "The story isn't bad except for the vampire part."

"It gets worse."

Emily shook her head as Tanya straightened out the sleeping bag provided for her and crawled into bed. " _It's the summer, so I can stay up late reading this. It surely can't be that bad._ "

She finished the first book by the time Hillary came back. The other girl did up her hair in a towel and sat at the foot of the bed. "So?"

"So what?"

"Your uncle has this weird accent. Your brother called him Uncle Drac. As in Dracula?"

Emily stared at Hillary for a few minutes. "Why do you ask?"

"Vampires are so cool! I mean, werewolves are as I said cooler, but vampires are real? That would be awesome."

"Could you two talk about this in the morning? I'm trying to get to bed."

Emily found herself grateful towards Hillary's sister Tanya.


	4. Plans for the Day

"Monsters drool! Monsters rule!"

Emily let out a groan upon hearing the sound of her brother and another person shouting in the hallway. Her eyes stuck together while she tried opening up her eyes; her mind remained in a dream-like fog for what felt like minutes. A few of her fingers twitched in irritation. The repetition didn't stop her from muttering in frustration into her pillow. "Elliot."

The fourteen-year-old pushed herself up so she might do something about the intrusion and in the process knocked a book over the edge. Her eyes blinked a couple of times while taking in the two figures in the sleeping bags on the floor before reaching down and scooping up what she now considered an offending book – Twilight.

A deep sigh escaped Emily's mouth while she stood up and headed to the bathroom. Brushing her teeth and changing meant one moment longer she might hold off the conversation with Hillary regarding whether vampires were real or not. Elliot and William continued their chanting up and down the hall; likely Elliot convinced Hillary's younger brother to join him in the task of purposefully annoying her.

From the direction of her room, she heard Hillary's voice muttering. "William, stop being so loud."

Emily let out a sigh. She finished in the bathroom and headed downstairs knowing full well her uncle would already prepare breakfast for everyone. She sat down at the table leaning on her arm with annoyance. Elliot and William came down the stairs in a thundering cacophony. Tanya came down soon after. Hillary took much longer getting down, but her hair stuck out all over the place. "Tanya – where's my hairbrush?"

"Not my fault you lost it."

"You can look for it after breakfast." Uncle Drac placed plates of food in front of the children while smiling at them. "After that, I'm sure Emily and Elliot would love to show you around town."

Emily poked her food and let out a sigh knowing full well she didn't want to show any of the three around. After all, showing Hillary around meant dealing with her friend's misconceptions regarding monsters. Emily leaned over and whispered into her brother's ear. "You don't seem bothered by this at all."

Elliot leaned over. "William is annoying and woke me up earlier than I like getting up on the weekends. And that Tanya is here. She's creepier than any monster."

"Irony." Emily always felt her younger brother

"What do you mean irony?" Elliot gave her one of his usual glares. Emily didn't like the loudness in his voice.

"What's irony?" William piped up making Emily turn and look at the youngest at the table.

Uncle Drac let out a chuckle. "Irony. That's rather hard to explain, but it means that something is different from how they should be."

"Um. No." Emily's mouth twisted slightly. "It means a coincidence."

"No. I'm quite sure it means when things are inverted from what they should be."

Elliot leaned back in his chair letting out a sigh. "Should you really argue with Uncle Drac about what a word means Em? Isn't this why you're _not_ at the top of your class?"

Emily leaned in and whispered. "Are you sure you don't have a crush on Tanya?"

"I'm still hungry." William looked down at his now empty plate.

Elliot stood up and headed towards the cupboard. "Come pick out a box of cereal."

Emily cringed knowing all of the cereals in the house were Elliot's cheesy monster cereals. William stood up and walked overlooking at the boxes. "Mom says I'm not old enough for horror movies. I like superheroes."

The oldest of the Normal siblings watched her brother roll his eyes. "So you told me last night. I guess, though, superheroes are fun as well."

"Anyways, as I was saying, why don't you five spend the day together exploring the town."

Emily looked at her uncle, quite uncertain about the plan for the day. Hillary piped up. "Let's We can pack a picnic!"

"No need. I'll pack one for you. You might run into some of Emily and Elliot's friends."

The corner of Elliot's mouth twisted up slightly. "Great."

Her brother didn't seem any more thrilled regarding the situation than she did. However, she found herself standing up and walking over to where her uncle was. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, don't they need to move into their new home and stuff?"

Elliot snatched the toast from her place making her cringe as he bit down with a resounding crunch. Hillary proceeded in buttering her own toast. "The stuff won't be there until later this afternoon. Mom will probably unpack everything, anyways. I doubt she'll know where I want everything in my room, so it is rather annoying."

Emily let out a sigh.

**G**

The morning didn't start off well for Elliot. A tug on his pajamas woke Elliot up in the morning much earlier than he wanted on a non-school day. His eyes opened and saw an unwelcome guest. A groan escaped while Elliot mentally noted the only reason William shared a room with him the night before came down to the fact the boy's oldest sister was friends with Emily. William wasn't bad, yet he came in a package with Tanya.

Elliot remembered her always rubbing him the wrong way.

Still, William easily fell into step when Elliot decided he wanted to purposefully annoy the girls and hopefully get a reaction. Said reaction came from Hillary, who unfortunately volunteered him for a picnic when he really wanted to hang out with his friends as planned. " _It's not as if we actually planned anything for today, but still. A picnic though in a place like Transylvania?_ "

Hillary hurried off so she might prepare which meant who knows how long she would take preening herself in front of the mirror. While Elliot found such practice annoying and not understandable, he also wished Emily might at least take some time brushing her thin strands of hair so she might not look so bedraggled. He felt William tug on his sleeve while they waited in his room. "What?"

"Do you have any video games?"

"Uncle Drac doesn't have a TV. I did purchase myself a handheld after Wolfie let me borrow one of his."

"Who's Wolfie?"

"Someone I wish was my older sibling instead of Emily. Do you have any favorite games?" Elliot reached for his side table where he kept his handheld and the games which went into the device. He found himself chatting away with William regarding their favorite games while they played on the handheld devices.

"Hey." Tanya's voice made him cringe. "We're ready to go."

William stood up and started for the door just in time for Emily to peek over her shoulder. "No. You two are not allowed to bring your video games on the picnic."

"Ah."

"We don't want to accidentally leave them outside." Elliot didn't tell William he also thought the picnic would be boring. He headed down starts and found himself looking up at the clouds while Hillary, Tanya, and William got ahead of them.

"Don't."

Elliot didn't like the tone of voice his sister used. Glaring at Emily didn't make her stop giving him the look indicating she was annoyed with him. "Don't What? Embarrass you? I don't…"

She didn't let him finish telling her she did that quite well on her own. "Tell them about monsters really existing."

"Are you an idiot?" Elliot's eyes narrowed. "You're still stuck on telling them? They're going to find out eventually. Isn't it better to tell them the truth in private rather than in public? Oh, wait. I think that is a bit lace as we're going for a picnic in a park which is as you know a _very_ public place."

"It's not as if anybody but little kids hang out in the park."

"Yeah. You go ahead and think that." He turned and started walking towards the park knowing the others would follow him. They arrived at the park a short time after. Hillary started out her usual perky self, yet a glum look was now plastered onto her face. "It's kind of…" She looked up at the sky. "I kind of wish the sun was shining. At least it's not chilly."

Without looking around Elliot knew he was already bored. The last thing he wanted to do was hang out with a bunch of girls, particularly Tanya. He turned towards William. "So, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know. Explore?" The look on William's face reminded him of how he felt when he first moved to the town.

Elliot shrugged his shoulders; he could easily show William some of the best places. He started walking off to start exploring when Tanya piped up. "I'm coming with you."

"Wait. You can't go off on your own." Hillary piped up.

Emily's younger brother let out a deep breath, remembering exactly how annoying both girls could be. Namely, they acted like mother hens when they didn't _need_ to be simply so they might control what their younger siblings did simply because they were older – smarter as well in Emily's opinion. "Fine." He watched Hillary and Emily take charge of the exploring. Sudden pain in his foot made him yelp. "What did you do that for?"

"I wanted to get away from her!" Tanya leaned over, hissing into his ear."

"They wouldn't have come with us if you hadn't decided to tag along." Elliot hissed.

"Are you sure you two don't have crushes on each other?" Emily piped up.

"I do not!" Elliot's eye twitched as did his mouth.

"Oh! That makes sense. That's a classic Anime couple thing," Hillary piped up.

"My sister's an idiot. Ignore her." Tanya let out a deep breath. She turned and looked at William. "Actually, both Emily and Hillary are idiots William. Take everything they say with a grain of salt."

"Oh."

"Anyways, there's this really cool fountain over there that we can…"

Elliot was quite sure his sister was going to say they could picnic by the fountain yet found himself even more amused by _what_ made her stop speaking. A rather vindictive smile crept across his face.


	5. Rough Morning

"I'm going outside, _oba-chan_." Wolfie clutched the book he'd not yet finished reading in one hand while reaching down for his backpack by the door with another.

"Are you going outside to play with Hector?" Her melodic voice filled the air, making him turn to look at her. Her silver eyes, however, betrayed her worry. "You can't play with him if you've got your nose stuck in a book, can you?"

"No. I don't have any plans on meeting up with him today. I've got a ton of assigned reading for the summer, and I thought I'd…" Wolfie found himself distracted from slipping his shoes on by the door when he felt a hand reach out and grasp his chin lightly. Instead of looking the person in the eye, he instead tightly shut them in hopes of avoiding the conversation he knew would come.

"Come now, dear cub. I know for a fact you've already read the books assigned over at least twice since we got them a couple of weeks ago when the list was first handed out. I don't know what's going on, but you've never invited your friends over to the house for a play date."

" _Oba-chan!_ " His voice strained ever so slightly. Heat rose up in his cheeks. I'm too old for playdates."

"Yet you're not old enough for dating?"

Wolfie blinked while his cheeks heated up even more. The next words spluttered from his mouth. At the same time, he turned, hurrying towards the door in hopes she wouldn't continue the conversation. "Don't you dare! You promised you wouldn't set me up with her, that you'd let things unfold!"

"Yes, but you at least used to have playdates with her, and sometimes she still comes over and spends time with you even though you say that the two of you aren't friends anymore."

"Don't know _what_ you're talking about!" Wolfie breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the door close behind him. He let his eyes roll into the back of his head. " _Seriously. It's hard enough acting like a normal teenager for even an abnormal place as this when everything abnormal for abnormal is the sum of my life._ " He refocused himself onto the book in his hand and a smile spread across his face.

The last thing he wanted was to think about the incident where he and Hector stopped being friends, yet for some reason, the book proved an ineffective distraction.

" _What do you mean you aren't going to try out for the football team with me?_."

" _It's stupid._ "

" _What_ _did you say?"_

 _"_ _You heard what I said._ "

The fourteen-year-old felt someone yank on the back of his hoodie pulling him from his personal thoughts and memories. He jerked his head up from the book as one of his other family members slammed into the white picket fence which separated their home from that of the neighbors. His bright indigo colored eyes narrowed, his mouth forming a thin line upon seeing his older brother clutching the football he just caught. "Point made. Stupid sport."

"You wouldn't have nearly gotten nailed by your older brother if you didn't have your nose in your book." The voice was Wanda's, indicating she'd reached over the fence as he traversed from the backdoor of the home to the front.

The older sibling in question stood and turned. "Ai-chan? Aito? Do you want to play?"

"How many times have I told you not to call me that Daichi?" Wolfie let out a deep sigh.

"Oh, come on. You'll always be my _ototo_.. _"_

"I'm leaving now." Wolfie buried his nose into his book, attempting to walk past his older brother and cousins who were in the yard tossing the football around. A muscled arm reached out, hooking under his.

Daichi leaned in close, whispering into his brother's ear. "Are you really going to ignore me, _ototo_? I know we've not been at the same school since I left elementary school, but…"

"But what? Do you really want to be seen in the same social circles as your nerdy little brother your senior year of high school? Or do you want to make my freshman year a living hell by making me the brunt of jokes for the sake of your friends?"

"What did you…" Daichi's voice strained with anger, but his grip on Wolfie's arm tightened slightly. "Why did you say that?"

"Don't pretend to know me just because we live under the same roof."

Daichi's grip tightened even more before he forced Wolfie around so he might put his face right into that of his younger brother. "That wouldn't _be_ the case if you weren't constantly wandering off to who knows where with your nose stuck in a book."

"At least we know what he's always doing."

Wolfie turned his head and saw his cousin – the one who was the same age as Daichi rub the back of his neck. Wolfie swallowed, feeling ashamed of how he reacted to Daichi. Instead of apologizing, Wolfie slapped Daichi's hand away and started walking away.

"After all. He could be…" Wolfie heard his cousin clear his throat, but step closer so he might whisper. "You know. With Wanda."

"What!" The heat reappeared on his cheeks.

"The only reason we've not pushed you into actually asking her out is because you're too young to be doing _that_ with her."

"You!" Wolfie let his hand holding the book fall to his side. Both hands clenched including the one holding the book. He lifted his free hand up and pointed at his older brother. "You guys wonder why I _don't_ want to hang out with you! You're all idiots!"

He didn't wait for his brother to respond and simply took off. Thankfully, he soon found himself engrossed in his book again forgetting about the rather embarrassing conversation. Someone grabbed the back of his hoodie and Wolfie heard the sound of a car going by in front of him. The person who grabbed onto the back of his hoodie spoke from behind him. "Seriously. You need to pay more attention and not always have your nose in a book. You nearly walked in front of a car."

"Why are you following me?" Wolfie continued reading his book and started across the street towards the park. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with me since we entered primary school?"

"How long are you going to hold that against me?"

"I don't. Doesn't change the fact we don't run in the same social circles."

"Reality check. You don't _have_ a social circle anymore."

"I've my pack."

"That…"

Wolfie felt Wanda reach out and grab onto the sleeve of his hoodie. He lowered his book and saw her glaring at him. "What?"

Wanda pulled her arms away and folded them across her chest carefully Her facial features softened slightly. "Look. Could I possibly say what I want to say and be on my way?"

"Um…" Wolfie glanced away while he felt his cheeks heat up. "Fine. What is it you want Wanda?"

She took a deep breath and let it out. "Look. If you're not careful, you'll be run over by that group of teenagers which are racing through the streets ever since those outsiders started coming to town."

"Outsiders?"

"Seriously. I know you're escaping reality in those books you read, but you really need to get your nose out of those books. Reality might kill you." Wanda looked away. "As I said. I'd say what I wanted to say and will leave you alone since that's what you obviously want."

Wolfie watched her turn and walk back in the direction they came from. He glanced down at the book still in his hand mulling over what Wanda said. After a few minutes, he headed over towards the fountain where he liked lazing about and reading when the weather permitted. He purposefully lay down on the edge and lifted his book up so he might read. He found himself incapable of focusing. "Seriously. I honestly don't get her."

Instead of reading, Wolfie placed the book over his eyes deciding he'd take a nap instead of reading; he hoped he'd forget the morning occurrences. He heard a few people come and go, yet none of the people were people he wanted to avoid. Instead, he recognized all of the voices as frequent visitors to the park who didn't pay him any mind.

Eventually, a familiar voice drifted over and made him tense up, yet he found himself a tad surprising given the fact the person to whom the voice belonged never hung out in the park; after all, they were not the outdoor type. His mouth opened and quickly closed while hoping they wouldn't come closer. However, "Anyways, there's this really cool fountain over there that we can…"

In the back of his mind, he didn't want to know what Emily Normal was up to. He also knew there was no avoiding her today.

"Wolfie?"


End file.
